1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system power management, and more particularly to a system and method for blade information handling system power inventory in a reduced power consumption state.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Often, especially with larger enterprises, large numbers of information handling servers perform functions critical to enterprise success, such as interfacing with customers or coordinating enterprise operations. Enterprises typically have difficulty placing large numbers of server information handling systems in a common location due to the physical footprint of the systems as well as power and cooling constraints. One solution increasingly selected by enterprises is the installation of blade servers. A blade server generally has a chassis with slots sized to accept ten or more blade information handling system. Each blade information handling system is essentially a motherboard with a processor, storage and network interfaces that engage in the blade server chassis slot; however, the blade information handling systems share common support resources, such as power and cooling resources. The use of a single set of power and cooling resources in a chassis reduces the footprint of the chassis. Further footprint efficiencies are gained by the use of a single housing instead of a separate housing for each blade. A chassis management controller (CMC) manages the chassis-level subsystems while a baseboard management controller (BMC) on each blade manages the physical operation of the blade, such temperature sensors and application of power. Remote management through the CMC and BMC are available through in band and out of band communication.
One difficulty associated with blade servers is ensuring that the power available through a blade chassis is sufficient for all blade information handling systems that are loaded in the chassis. A typical blade chassis has a longevity of five or more years. Over the time that a blade chassis is deployed, empty slots are sometimes filled and existing blade information handling systems are sometimes replaced with new blades or upgraded with new components. Often, newer information handling systems and components have greater power needs than older components. To avoid overburdening a blade chassis power supply, an estimated power consumption of blade information handling systems is applied that will minimize disruption in operations. Typically, a power consumption inventory is made at power up of each blade information handling system. However, if the blade chassis has an upgraded, replaced or new blade information handling system then powering up the blade information handling system to take the power inventory can cause the blade chassis to exceed its power capacity.